Proactive palliative care in the medical intensive care unit: effects on length of stay for selected high-risk patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of proactive palliative care consultation on length of stay for high-risk patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU).

Design: A prospective pre/post nonequivalent control group design was used for this performance improvement study.

Setting: Seventeen-bed adult MICU.

Risk factors for chronic pain following breast cancer surgery: a prospective study.

Unlabelled: Chronic pain following breast cancer surgery is associated with decreased health-related quality of life and is a source of additional psychosocial distress in women who are already confronting the multiple stresses of cancer. Few prospective studies have identified risk factors for chronic pain following breast cancer surgery. Putative demographic, clinical, and psychosocial risk factors for chronic pain were evaluated prospectively in 95 women scheduled for breast cancer surgery.

Risk factors for acute pain and its persistence following breast cancer surgery.

Although more severe acute postoperative pain increases the risk of chronic pain following breast cancer surgery, few studies have examined the characteristics of patients who develop greater acute pain. To identify risk factors for acute pain and its persistence one month following breast cancer surgery, a sample of 114 women scheduled for breast cancer surgery was assessed preoperatively for demographic, clinical, and emotional functioning variables that were hypothesized to be associated with acute pain severity. Clinically meaningful postoperative pain was assessed at follow-up interviews 2, 10, and 30 days after surgery.